


keep on keeping your eyes on me (it's just wrong enough to make it feel right)

by everdeen



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Fluff, a slightly unexpected jack/lena/maggie bromance if you can....believe it, just 5k of self-indulgence!, lena "yeah i'm a genius so what" luthor, ummmm no one drag me i just like pub quizzes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 06:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11754423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everdeen/pseuds/everdeen
Summary: Lena will say this in her defence: she had absolutely no idea that it was trivia night at the bar.(Kara and Lena are on rival teams at the bar's monthly trivia night. Things get competitive, but not unpleasantly so.)





	keep on keeping your eyes on me (it's just wrong enough to make it feel right)

**Author's Note:**

> so i love these two too much to not have a go at absolutely wrecking them.  
> au, of course (though not quite au enough for lena not to have a crazy brother and be struggling in national city); it kinda hurt to separate jimmy from the superfamily but i needed someone not annoying to be the bartender in this one. also, i don't know where the jack/maggie/lena thing came from either but i do maintain that they would kick ass as a trivia team. 
> 
> you already know where the title is from. i don't claim taylor swift but sparks fly is a happy exception.

 Lena will say this in her defence: she had absolutely _no_ idea that it was trivia night at the bar.

One moment everything is completely normal, the next, lights are flashing wildly, cheesy music blaring from the speakers, and James - who she’s pretty sure is really meant to be behind the bar serving drinks - is putting on a ridiculous voice and speaking into a microphone that has seemingly materialised out of thin air.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and all other humans of the world,” he declares, loudly enough that Lena is left wincing into her scotch. “A _very_ warm welcome to our _eagerly_ anticipated monthly quiz night!”

His words prompt a strong cheer from seemingly every occupant of the building except for Lena herself, who is beginning to be filled with the exquisite kind of dread which comes from being trapped in an entirely unexpected and uncomfortable social situation.

“Now, we all know the rules,” James continues. “Teams of no less than three and no more than five. If you came tonight without a team, I invite you now to join the solo table!” He pauses to point at a table which, rather inconveniently, is very close to where Lena was already sitting. She looks up to offer him a glare, which he only responds to with a wink before turning away.

“The solo table is where you may find a few others to form a team. And just in case you’re tempted to quit and leave altogether, may I remind everyone that the grand prize for tonight is five of _these_ extremely coveted tokens…” With no little amount of melodrama, James whips out five flimsy pieces of paper with a messy and clearly hand drawn design on each of them of what appears to be a beer bottle. “That’s right! They may look crappy -”

“Because they are!” hollers a man from the table at the back, to the laughter of the bar.

“They may _look_ crappy, sir,” James continues with a grin, “but they do in fact offer one open tab _each_ on a night of your choosing here at this bar this month!”

A chorus of _oohs_ and _aahs_ results from this declaration (some clearly exaggerated), and already people are beginning to make their way over to the so-called solo table and forming teams. Lena lets out a sigh that she can’t even hear over the buzz of the bar. It’s been an extremely long week, and really all she’d wanted was to have a quiet drink alone in peace, which was why she’d come here instead of any number of bars around National City. But it seems tonight her plan has been foiled.

“We begin in five minutes!” James announces. Taking that as her cue, Lena drains her drink and starts to make her way towards the exit, only to find her path blocked by James himself.

“Hey,” he says, frowning at her. “Lena. Where are you going?”

“Home?” she replies with an arched eyebrow.

“Right, I just - I don’t know, I thought you might wanna stay for the quiz?”

James is so positive about everything, calm and shrewd and smart. Sometimes it’s kind of annoying, but most of the time it leaves Lena longing for the friendship that he fleetingly offers whenever she’s at the bar in a more permanent form.

“Thanks, James, but it’s not really my...scene,” she replies, swerving to move past him. She’s left blocked once again by his frustratingly large arm.

“I know that,” he continues, seemingly unphased by Lena’s lack of enthusiasm. “But, like, maybe it _could_ be your scene? Plus you’d ace it, you’re crazy smart.”

“I’m not,” Lena says on reflex. It’s a lie and both of them know it.

“Right,” James says, clearly not fooled.

“James, I just really don’t think…”

“ _Please_ ,” he interrupts, not even pleading that much but instead giving her an imploring look with those deep, sincere eyes. “It would be so cool to have you here. And hey, you could - maybe, meet some new people?” This last suggestion comes out more hesitant.

“You mean make some friends,” Lena replies flatly.

James gives her a smile. “Make _more_ friends,” he says. “Come on. How bad could it be?”

Lena lets out a sigh. “Fine,” she relents.

“Yes!” he exclaims, turning her around and pushing her none too gently towards the ‘solo table’. “Go get ‘em, tiger!”

“Douche,” she mutters under her breath, but without much feeling to it. When she reaches the table, there are only two people left sitting there; a man with the kind of easy, charming smile she definitely would have fallen for in college, and a woman with sharp eyes and a mouth that looks like it’s always on the verge of a grin.

“Oh, _please_ say you’re looking for a team,” the man near-pleads upon seeing her approach.

“Ah - I guess so?” Lena replies, blinking.

“Just in time,” the woman says as James starts calling for the teams to finish prepping in the background. “I’m Maggie.”

“And I’m Jack,” says the guy with another smile.

“Lena,” is all Lena has time to say, before James is booming through the microphone about round one about to begin.

“Quick,” Maggie hisses to Lena. “What’s our team name?”

Lena blinks. “Uh…”

Maggie rolls her eyes. “Jack,” she says. “What’s your surname?”

“Spheer.”

“And yours?” She turns to Lena.

Lena swallows. Her surname, she knows, is what has the power to take her from invisible to horribly conspicuous in the space of three seconds. Still, there’s no way of getting out of it, and she thinks at this point giving a fake name would somehow just be stupid. “Luthor.”

“Cool,” Maggie says, and Lena blinks rapidly to ward off the surprise of her non-reaction. “We’re the Spheeruthorawyers,” she concludes, scribbling it on their point sheet.

“Um,” Jack says. “What?”

“Spheer,” Maggie says, pointing her pencil at him. “Luthor - which, by the way, is that a coincidence, or are you related to the, y’know, billionaires?”

“Coincidence...?” Lena replies, although she really doesn’t sound sure; Maggie cocks her head and squints at her.

“Right,” she says. “So, Spheer, Luthor, Sawyer - Spheeruthorawyers.”

“That’s…catchy,” Lena comments. Maggie gives her a look of derision.

“Well, you couldn’t come up with anything better, Lena Luthor.”

“That’s true,” she concedes.

“It sounds like a STI,” Jack says.

“STIs aren’t a joking matter,” Lena tells him.

“I know,” he says, giving her a grin. “I work in the pharmaceutical industry. And,” he leans in a little closer as Maggie is distracted by James’ instructions, “I’m high up enough to know that your name definitely isn’t a coincidence, Ms Luthor.”

Lena twists to look at him hard, and abruptly realises that she recognises him. “Spheerical Industries. Right,” she says with a slightly resigned sigh. Of course the one time she tries to make new friends they turn out to be her business rivals. Jack, however, only grins wider.

“I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine?” he offers.

“Deal,” Lena murmurs out of the corner of her mouth, trying to look as though she’s concentrating on the rest of James’ speech. She pauses, smiles to herself. “If there’s a science round, we’re acing it.” Jack lets out a laugh.

“And without further ado!” James proclaims. “We begin with the first of the factual rounds: general knowledge!”

“ _Yes_! Bring it _on_!” says a man from the table parallel to Lena, Maggie and Jack’s on the other side of the room. He looks every inch the socially inept nerd, with a slightly tragic combination of tie and plaid shirt, and is quickly shushed by the other members of his team.

“I _will_ bring it on, Winn,” James says with a wink. “Because it's time for question one. Who wrote the opera _Madame Butterfly_?”

Lena has to really keep from scoffing, because at heart she’s an intellectual snob. Beside her, Maggie looks mystified.

“Puccini,” she mutters to her as the man she assumes is named Winn makes a fuss about knowing the answer and relaying it to his teammates.

“Uh,” Maggie says, raising a brow. “How do you spell that?”

Glancing around at the other tables, she grabs the sheet and scribbles it down herself. Maggie and Jack look at her with something like an impressed look in their eyes, although Jack is also smirking knowingly, which Lena wants to be annoyed at but kind of isn’t. The rest of the first few rounds continues the same way, with Jack filling in or backing up any gaps in Lena’s with vast amounts of geographical and scientific knowledge. Once they move out of the factual rounds, Maggie proves herself indispensable, acing the ‘Who am I’ round as well as the music rounds.

“What do you even do for a living?” Jack asks when Maggie recognises a song after only hearing two seconds of its introduction for the sixth time in a row. “You’re not a musician or something, are you?”

Maggie smirks. “I’m a cop.”

Lena takes a moment to wonder if these are the kind of friends James was hoping she’d make, concludes they probably aren’t, and snorts to herself.

“And that concludes the first half of tonight’s quiz,” James informs them. “Please hand your question sheets in _this_ way,” he points at himself, “and take a moment to refill your drinks, recuperate, talk about how awesome I am…”

The table across from them lets out a series of jeers; it’s become clear to Lena over the course of the night that they’re clearly all friends of James. They’re not quite rowdy enough to be properly annoying (apart from maybe the Winn guy, although Lena suspects that’s more the result of the several beer bottles close to him than anything), more just amusing. There’s four of them; Winn, another man - taller and looking kind of like a frat boy - and two women, a redhead with striking cheekbones and an even more striking smile, and a blonde with glasses and a laugh like sunshine who, annoyingly, Lena can’t stop staring at.

“In the meantime, I will be counting up your scores, and the top two scoring teams will be going _head to head_ in the second half of tonight’s trivia quiz!” The crowd gasp dramatically and James grins, clearly enjoying the attention of his mostly drunken audience.

“We better be in that fuckin’ head to head round,” Maggie says once James informs them that they will be returning in twenty minutes.

“I think it’s probably impossible that we won’t be,’ Jack replies in a mild sort of voice (Lena can’t work out if it’s deliberate or his British accent just makes everything sound slightly more considerate).

“Yeah, with your music genius,” Lena agrees, offering Maggie a smile that she hopes appears only slightly sardonic.

Maggie snorts. “Uh, and the fact that you know, like, everything on the planet?”

Lena shifts and tries her best to will her face from flushing. “Not everything,” she mumbles.

“Sure,” she says. “Want a drink?”

Lena is about to request her usual when she sees the pretty blonde from the other table make her way up to the bar. “Thanks, but I’ll, uh, I’ll just go and grab it myself. I need to go the bathroom, anyway.”

Maggie shrugs in concession and drifts off to the bar. Lena turns to offer Jack an apologetic smile for leaving him alone, but he’s already struck up a conversation with a woman from a table near to them, so instead she makes her way to the bathroom, standing in front of the sink for what she’s sure is far too long and staring at herself in the mirror. The surprising thing is, she’s kind of enjoying herself. Maggie and Jack are both easy-going and - something that’s kind of a relief to Lena - intelligent. She’s let herself forget for the past few hours that she’s a Luthor, that she runs one of the biggest companies in the world, that her brother is a mass murderer behind bars; she’s let herself slip out from underneath her unbearably heavy burden, and somehow it’s worked.

So now, Lena supposes, the only question is when reality will come crashing back in again.

Sighing, she turns on the tap and washes her hands, if only to give them to do something to do. She’s halfway through a very thorough lathering when someone else clatters in; it’s the blonde who she’s been staring at all night, and who now offers her a smile almost blinding in its effervescence.

“Hi!” says the woman, who apparently has absolutely no problem addressing complete strangers with an air of utter familiarity. “You’re doing this quiz, right?”

“Yes,” Lena says, ducking her head to turn on the tap and start washing the soap off her hands.

“Isn’t it fun?! It’s my favourite night of the month, honestly,” the woman declares, still beaming. Lena concludes that she must be drunk, though she’s showing none of the usual symptoms, apart from a slightly terrifyingly sunny disposition. She peers at Lena carefully. “I recognise you,” she says.

Lena concentrates on keeping her face as neutral as possible. “Do you?” she replies.

“Yeah.” The woman stares at her for another moment, eyes tracing across Lena’s features in a way that makes her feel hot all over. “Can’t think from where, though. Are you friends with Jimmy?”

“Jimmy?” Lena struggles for a second to put the pieces together before realising she means James. “Oh! Yes,” Lena says, relieved to have an excuse to cling to that is at least semi-true. “I mean, I’m really quite a regular here, so we’re...well-acquainted.”

“That’ll be where I recognise you from, then!” the woman exclaims with a start that’s enough to jolt her glasses down her nose by a couple of inches. “I come here a lot too. Best bar in National City!”

This is a rather generous assessment by anyone’s standards, but, because Lena’s a complete idiot around pretty girls, all she does is nod in agreement.

“And that’s our intermission coming to a close, ladies, gentlemen and other deeply respected patrons!” comes James’ voice from outside.

“Oh, I better get a move on,” the woman says, before moving over to a cubicle. She stops just short before going inside, turning back to look at Lena and smile again. “I’m Kara, by the way. Kara Danvers.”

“Lena,” Lena says, really hoping that she sounds less breathless than she thinks she sounds.

“Nice to meet you, Lena! I’ll see you back out there, huh?”

“Yeah,” she replies, turning to the exit. “See you.”

The bar feels far cooler than the bathroom she’s just left, and Lena realises abruptly with no little amount of embarrassment that her cheeks are warm.

“Dear God,” she mutters to herself, making a beeline for the bar. She desperately needs more alcohol in her body if she’s going to survive the next foreseeable hour with Kara Danvers in her near vicinity, especially since she has absolutely no idea why a near-stranger has such a strong effect on her. Ordering two more rum and cokes, she doesn’t hesitate to start gulping the first one down once it’s set in front of her.

“Easy, Luthor,” comes a now-familiar voice from beside her. Lena looks over to see Maggie, now accompanied by the other woman from Kara’s table, who is even more striking up close. “We need you sober if we’re gonna win.”

“I can win regardless of my levels of sobriety,” Lena mutters, but sets her drink back down before turning to face both of them. “Making friends with the enemy, Maggie?”

“Oh, yeah,” Maggie says with a grin. “Lena, this is Alex Danvers. Alex, Lena, the genius of our sad little loners’ team.”

Two Danvers in one evening? Lena thinks to herself, though apparently she must have made this musing aloud, because Alex eyes her shrewdly and says: “You know Kara?”

“Um, kind of,” Lena says, slightly embarrassed. “I mean, I just became acquainted with her tonight.”

“Oh,” Alex replies, understanding settling into her features before twisting into a more apologetic expression, though slightly tinged with amusement. “Sorry. She can be, uh - very friendly?”

“Yeah,” Lena agrees. “I mean, it’s not - a bad thing?”

“I mean, that’s what _she_ says,” Alex says with a little eye-roll. “But one of these days she’s gonna end up being kidnapped for being too nice, or something.”

“I’ll save her, don’t worry,” Maggie tells her with a smirk.

“Yeah, I don’t doubt that, Detective Sawyer.”

 _They’re flirting_ , Lena realises dimly, thankfully not aloud this time. She feels herself reach for her rum and take another long drink just as James announces the end of the ‘intermission’.

“That’s our cue, Luthor,” Maggie says, apparently presuming that Lena’s drinking has meant she’s incapable of walking, and grabbing her arm. Lena drains her first drink and grabs her second before moving with Maggie.

“See you around, Danvers,” Maggie is saying to Alex.

“If you’re lucky,” Alex replies, though she’s smiling in a way that means Maggie almost certainly _will_ end up lucky.

“Do you feel the need to call everyone by their surname?” Lena inquires.

Maggie takes her arm again and starts picking her way through the other people in the bar back towards their table, where Jack is already sitting. “Police habit,” she says.

“Even though you’re the only cop here? _Detective_?”

“Okay, smartass,” Maggie says, rolling her eyes. “You’re the only billionaire here, didn’t see me calling you out for it.”

“I knew that coincidence thing didn’t work,” Lena mutters. “Also, I’m not the only billionaire. Jack is here too.”

“ _Seriously_?” Maggie groans, to her credit not looking even a little bit surprised. “Why are you guys even here anyway, you could probably buy this place out!”

“Hey,” Jack says with an injured look Lena’s way. “What happened to our deal?”

“She already knew I was a Luthor,” Lena says with a shrug. “Also, I don’t think lying to cops is ever a good idea.”

“Yeah, and you’re right,” Maggie interjects. “Now shut up, he’s gonna announce the teams.”

“And our two teams in the final tonight, going head to head on a random topic, _are_ \- the Superfriends -”

At this, James is interrupted by a loud triumphant cheer, from - predictably - Kara’s table.

“ _Superfriends_ ,” Maggie mutters with disdain. “Seriously?”

“It might be an inside joke?” Jack offers.

“I hope so,” she replies, sitting back and crossing her arms. Lena hopes so too, for Maggie’s sake - although Alex really doesn’t seem like the type to endorse a team name like _Superfriends_ , you can never judge a book by its cover.

“And facing them in our final round tonight, the _very_ catchily named...Spheeruthorawyers!”

“That’s us!” Jack declares excitedly. Normally, Lena would roll her eyes, but she can’t resist his enthusiasm, and ends up smiling.

“ _Yes_ ,” Maggie hisses in victory, eyes turning abruptly - and rather scarily - vicious. “We’re gonna _crush_ this.”

“Congratulations to our two final teams and commiserations to our others! Feel free to grab another drink and stick around for this, the most exciting part of our quiz - the head to head!”

Lena expects most of the people in the bar who aren’t on either team to start drifting out, but most of them stay put and continue to chat excitedly, so she guesses they have an audience.

“This is how it works! There are three rounds, of different categories. For each round, each team will volunteer one member to compete directly against the member from the other team. The overall winner takes tonight’s prize!”

A couple of whoops, mostly from Winn, who James spares a grin before turning back to his cue cards. “So, without further ado, our first category is - movies that in hindsight clearly showed us how gay Jodie Foster is! Teams, you have thirty seconds to pick your member.”

“Oh, _bitch_ , this was made for me,” Maggie immediately says to her and Jack.

Lena has come to realise that very little can actually surprise or phase Jack, who just shrugs in agreement. “It definitely wasn’t made for me,” he says.

“Go for it,” Lena agrees.

Maggie does, ending up head to head with - unsurprisingly, Alex, who puts up enough of a fight that her and Maggie end up going to a tiebreaker question.

“Alright. Get ready,” James says (in Lena’s opinion he really is enjoying himself far too much). “In the 1991 movie _The Silence of the Lambs_ , what is the last thing Hannibal Lecter tells Clarice Starling before hanging up on her?

“Buzz!” Maggie screeches.

“Yes, Team Sphe - you know what, I’m just gonna call you SLS, I don’t have the brain power to say the name. What’s your answer?”

“He says he’s having an old friend for dinner,” Maggie replies with the confidence of someone who knows they’re absolutely correct.

“And that is - correct! SLS win the first round!”

The bar cheers; Alex crosses her arms in annoyance as Maggie blows her a kiss and winks. Lena can’t hear them from here, but watches Alex say something that looks vaguely like _I hate horror movies, okay?_ and Maggie smirk in response before returning to their table.

“How’s _that_ for genius?” she crows as she high-fives Jack. Lena shakes her head but can’t stop her grin.

“Impressive,” she says.

“Yeah, damn straight,” she says. “Now Danvers _has_ to go out with me.”

They don’t fare as well in the next round - Jack goes head to head against Winn in science and technology, and whilst he's obviously well-informed on the topic, he’s not nearly as quick as his opponent in answering. With a round apiece, the final round becomes the deciding one of the game. 

“And our _final_ topic for tonight is...1980s pop culture! If the final member of SLS and one more member from the Superfriends could come forward…”

“Hey,” Maggie says, leaning towards Lena with an arched eyebrow. “Have you got this?”

It’s a fair question to ask; in all the past pop culture rounds (that have actually been about current culture, rather than ancient history), Maggie’s been the strong one of the team. At any rate, Lena’s feeling pretty confident, though it’s potentially spurred a lot by the rum.

“I got this,” she says firmly nonetheless, standing up to walk over to James. It’s a few seconds before the Superfriends team member emerges, and Lena almost forgets to breathe for a second when she finds herself face to face with Kara Danvers.

“Hey,” she says.

“Hi,” Lena replies.

“I gotta warn you,” Kara tells her, usually sincere smile starting to verge on something far more cocky - which Lena finds inexplicably attractive. “I’m an _expert_ on ‘80s pop culture.”

“Oh, really?” Lena inquires. She’s had enough alcohol that she’s not drunk, only stripped down slightly of her inhibitions, and if the words come out more flirty than they might have a couple of hours ago, that’s neither here nor there.

“Yeah,” Kara says. “I’ve never lost a pop culture head-to-head round. I’m the reigning champion.”

“Is that so?” Lena says, leaning close enough that she can feel Kara’s body heat.

“Definitely so,” the other woman replies, and Lena notes with no little amount of delight that her breath hitches.

“Well,” she says in a rumble. “Maybe it’s time someone toppled you off that throne.”

“Uh - if the contestants are ready,” James says. “Ladies?” His voice is like a bucket of cold water being thrown over Lena’s head, and she leans back away from Kara abruptly, blinking and swallowing.

“Born ready!” Kara says, suddenly focused rather intently on the task at hand.

“Yep,” Lena agrees, a little hoarsely.

“Okay! Question one. Who recorded the pop song _Don’t You Forget About Me_ for John Hughes’ classic _The Breakfast Club_?”

 _Oh, easy_ , Lena thinks. Kara is apparently of the same mind: they both shout “Buzz!” at the same time.

“That was close,” James says with narrowed eyes. “But I’m gonna give it to...Kara.”

“Simple Minds,” Kara replies triumphantly.

“Correct! One point to Superfriends!”

“Anyone could have gotten that, you don’t need to look so pleased with yourself,” Lena mutters.

Kara grins. “You sound like a sore loser, Lena.”

“We’re only on question one,” Lena replies, arching an eyebrow. “Who said anything about losing?”

“Question two! Duran Duran derived their name from which classic sci-fi movie?”

“Buzz!” Lena says immediately.

“Lena.”

“Barbarella.”

“Correct! One point to SLS!”

Lena hears Maggie and Jack let out a faint cheer from behind her as Kara pouts.

“Barbarella is a sixties film,” she hisses, cheeks colouring just barely. “That doesn’t count.”

Lena smirks. “Who’s a sore loser now?”

“Your third question! What was the name of Madonna’s first album, released in 1983?”

“Ooh! Buzz!”

“Kara?”

“Madonna!”

“That is correct! One point to the Superfriends! And a bonus point if either of you can tell me what the album was retitled for its 1985 re-release?”

“Buzz.”

“Lena!”

“Madonna: The First Album.”

“That is correct! Which leaves both teams still even stevens with all to play for!”

The bar cheer collectively; Kara glares at Lena.

“You’re so annoying,” she says. “I totally won that.”

Lena shrugs. “A bonus point is a bonus point.”

“ _God_ ,” Kara growls. “You’re…”

“I’m…?”

“Ugh!”

“Let’s keep it civil, ladies,” James says, trying to appear serious but clearly struggling to hide a smile. “Time for question four. What does the VHS in ‘VHS VCR’ stand for?”

The competition quickly heats up; by question eight, Lena and Kara still have the same number of points each, Lena has discovered that the shade of pink Kara goes when she’s riled up stains her skin all the way down her neck, and is beginning to wonder more and more just how far down it goes past the collar of her cute blouse.

“In _Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home_ , Kirk and his crew time travel to 1980s San Francisco in search of what type of animal?”

“Buzz,” Lena says, not once looking away from Kara, whose eyes have grown a steadily darker shade of blue as the round continues.

“Lena?”

“The humpback whale.”

“Correct!”

“Nerd,” Kara says, and it would sound vicious if Kara weren’t so cute.

“Is that meant to be an insult?”

“Question nine! Matthew Broderick was the star of John Hughes’ _Ferris Bueller’s Day Off_. He reprised the role for a cameo in the end credits of which other John Hughes movie?”

Lena has no idea of the answer, but figures she might as well guess. “Buzz.”

“Lena.”

“Pretty in Pink?”

“That is...incorrect. Kara?”

Kara frowns in thought for a few seconds, before a slow grin spreads across her lips, languorous in a way that makes Lena want to kiss it off her lips. “She’s Having a Baby.”

“Correct! And it looks like our last question is the tiebreaker. So this is it, folks! The winner of this question wins not only the round, but our _entire_ quiz, with each member of either the Superfriends or SLS winning their own _coveted_ open bar token to be cashed in right here! So. Kara, Lena. For this _amazing_ prize. Your final question. Cyndi Lauper’s 1984 hit _She Bop_ tackled which controversial subject?”

Oh, Lena _knows_ this one. She _knows_ it, because who _doesn’t_ listen to She Bop, but Kara is frowning in that way she has when she doesn’t know the answer to the question, and Lena is actually going to do it, she is actually going to win and beat Kara ‘Pop Culture Queen’ Danvers.

“Buzz.”

“Lena!”

Lena takes a moment to look Kara in the eye, smirking and licking her lips. “Female masturbation,” she says, not looking away from Kara for a second and deeply enjoying the way her cheeks colour a deeper pink than before.

“That is...correct! Our winners tonight - toppling our eight month reigning champions, the Superfriends, are Jack, Maggie and Lena of SLS!”

The bar erupts into cheers, and even Kara offers Lena a wide smile, competitive edge falling away all at once. Part of Lena is regretful, because she liked frustrating her, but most of her just feels warm all over at the thought of receiving Kara’s smile all for herself.

“Well played,” Kara steps forward to say, tilting her head in acknowledgement. With her this close, Lena can smell the sweat coming off her - the bar has gotten unbearably hot over the past few hours - mixing deliciously with a scent of vanilla and bourbon.

“Thanks,” she replies, taking Kara’s outstretched hand with a smile of her own that, surprisingly, doesn’t feel even a little bit forced. “You too. Good game.”

“Yeah,” Kara says slowly, staring at Lena unabashedly as their fingers connect for far too long. “Good game.”

 

If Lena has to stop touching Kara any time soon, she’s pretty sure she might just combust.

“God, f - _fuck_ , Lena,” Kara hisses, pushing back against the brick wall behind them as Lena runs her hands over her hips and bites hard at her neck.

“What a filthy mouth you have,” Lena drawls, moving back to press her forehead to Kara’s and brushing her lips against hers softly enough to make the woman pressed up against her let out a groan. “Is it bad that I’m surprised?”

“Maybe,” Kara pants, moving so that Lena’s thigh falls between her own. “We’re not exactly well-acquainted.”

“Really?” Lena asks, pushing her thigh up hard and high enough that Kara lets out another broken moan, head falling back against the wall with a soft thud. “I thought this was us getting to know each other better.”

“Not really what I usually picture as a first introduction,” Kara responds. Lena leans forward and kissing her again, deeply, only pulling away after several long seconds.

“Okay,” she whispers into Kara’s ear before biting on her earlobe. “What’s your favourite colour?”

Kara’s hands pause at the small of her back, tips of her fingers just where Lena would have really liked them. “ _Seriously_?”

“What? Isn’t that a getting to know question?”

Kara looks at her, half amused, half annoyed, before tugging her in for another long kiss. “God,” she says when they break apart. “You are _so_ annoying.”

“That’s not what other people in your position have usually said, but I’ll take it.”

“All of tonight you were annoying,” Kara continues, electing to ignore Lena’s comment entirely, pulling her closer until there’s no distance at all between them and bearing down on her thigh. “I kinda wanted to punch you but you were too pretty.”

“I didn’t want to punch you,” Lena tells her, before sucking at the juncture of Kara’s jaw and her neck until she elicited a moan from her. “Just wanted to do this,” she murmurs against her skin.

“Yeah - me too,” Kara just manages to get out. “Keep doing it, please.”

Lena obeys, moving her hand up Kara’s blouse and reaching her bra just as Kara starts rocking against her with more force.

“Yes,” she lets out in a hiss just before Lena reaches up to kiss her. They seem to finally be getting somewhere - in fact, Lena’s starting to wonder if she’s really about to have sex with an effective stranger in an alleyway behind a dive bar, when a voice that sounds vaguely close starts calling Kara’s name.

“Kara?”

“Mmph,” Kara lets out against Lena’s lips before pulling away. “Crap,” she sighs, chest heaving in a way that Lena is trying not to find distracting. “I probably need to go.”

Lena feels her lips twitch up into a smile. “The Superfriends call?”

“Shut up,” Kara mutters. There’s a brief moment where she tries to glare at Lena, but seems to give up halfway through, lips forming a smile despite themselves, before she moves in to kiss Lena again.

“ _Mm_ ,” Lena hums against Kara’s lips. “You really have to go?”

“Yeah,” Kara says, and Lena’s traitorous heart beats a little faster at the reluctance in her voice. “I do, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she tells her. “This was, uh, fun.”

Kara smiles. “Fun is definitely one way to describe it.”

Lena is trying her absolute hardest not to look too dejected. She barely knows Kara, she reminds herself. And besides, she’s kind of busy trying to rebuild her company and her life and pretty much everything. The last thing she needs is a distraction, even if it’s one that’s really cute and smart and good at kissing.

“Maybe I’ll see you around,” she offers, because it’s the best and most neutral thing she can come up with without sounding like she desperately wants to see Kara again, or kiss her, or invite her back to her place, all of which are things she of course does want to do.

At the words, however, Kara’s entire demeanour changes - almost deflates. She frowns, and it’s familiar to Lena - the same expression that graced her features when she was faced with a question she didn’t quite know the answer to. “Uh, yeah,” she says, still frowning (to Lena’s confusion). “Yeah, maybe.”

“ _Kara_! Are you out here?”

“Yeah, I’m here, Alex, I’m coming!” Kara responds, offering Lena one last fleeting smile, and then she’s stepping out of the alley and gone.

Lena lets out a sigh, leans back against the brick wall where Kara just was, and closes her eyes. If she concentrates hard enough, it’s easy to pretend that the whole evening was some elaborate dream.

“Wait! Lena!” The sound of footsteps approaching, slapping against the concrete of the sidewalk. Lena opens her eyes, and blinks - once, twice - because for some reason Kara Danvers is back, not more than thirty seconds after she’d left.

“Okay, you’re still here,” Kara says. “Good. I, uh - okay, you know what, I’m just going to say it, I think you beating me at 1980s pop culture trivia is really hot and making out with you just now was also really hot but? Um? I kinda would like to get to know you, maybe, like, uh, really get to know you not…” she pauses to gesture vaguely at the wall, “uh, what we just - did - although I would definitely, _definitely_ be open to doing that again, but basically the number of people who know what Duran Duran named themselves after and what the reissue of Madonna’s debut was called is really, really low and I -” Kara stops short, bites her lip. “I really don’t think that you’re the kinda girl I should pass up the chance to ask out.”

“So,” Lena says. “You’re asking me out?”

“I mean, maybe? Yes? If you - if you want?”

“I…”

“ _Kara_!”

“I said I’m _coming_ , Alex - hey, look, how about I -” Before Lena can process what’s happening, Kara is brandishing a Sharpie, grabbing her forearm, and scribbling her number onto it in neat figures. “That’s my number,” she says. “And I would really, _really_ like it if you texted me.”

Lena’s brain, usually so quick, is still struggling to process what’s happening. “Okay,” she manages.

“Okay,” Kara repeats, suddenly beaming, her smile growing by the second. “Okay. Good.”

“Good,” Lena says. “You should probably go before your sister files a missing persons report.”

“Yeah,” Kara replies, still grinning a little dopily; Lena would find it amusing if she wasn’t acutely aware that the very same expression is probably on her face right now too. “Yeah, I should.” Quickly, she leans in, pressing her lips to Lena’s; it’s not nearly as heated or deep as any other kiss they’ve already exchanged, but just as firm, like a promise. “Text me,” she whispers, and then she’s gone.

Lena’s left, dazed, standing in a dank, rather horribly smelling alleyway, and unable to stop smiling in the darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> if ya like it, let me know, if ya like. i love comments and such. find me on tumblr @/finitively.


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